Women with hereditary breast cancer treated with breast conserving therapy appear to have no increased risk for recurrence in the treated breast, according to results from a prospective study published in the January 1, 2005 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. However, the risk of breast cancer in the opposite breast is significantly increased.
Breast conserving therapy (BCT), consisting of lumpectomy and radiation, has been demonstrated to be a safe, effective treatment for non-hereditary or sporadic forms of early breast cancer. However, for hereditary breast cancers – i.e., mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes – the use of BCT is controversial due to conflicting data about increased risk of recurrence in the treated breast and development of new tumors in the untreated breast. This leaves women with BRCA mutations at a disadvantage when choosing between BCT and bilateral mastectomy.
Mark Robson, M.D. and his colleagues from Memorial Sloan- Kettering Cancer Center in New York City followed 87 women diagnosed with breast cancer and BRCA mutations who were treated with BCT to evaluate their long-term cancer risks.